Susan Sarandon

Name: Susan Sarandon
Born: 4 October 1946 (Age: 64)
Where: New York City, New York USA
Height: 5' 7"
Awards: Won 1 Oscar, 1 BAFTA; 8 Golden Globe Nominations.

Susan Sarandon is an object lesson in how to do stardom properly. In her career she has been a stupendous success. She's impressed in comedies, thrillers, psychological dramas, literary pieces and children's cartoons. She's been involved in some of the most controversial movies of her time, but never been seen as scandal-merchant. She's shown more skin than many deemed to be soft-porn actresses, but is never taken less than seriously. She's a 5-time Oscar nominee (one win) and, along with helen mirren, is soon to prove that 60 can be sexy.

And she spoke out. A true daughter of the radical Sixties, she has involved herself heavily in politics, daring to hound President George W. Bush and engaging in a long running battle with New York's mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Having decided early on to use her fame for the public good, she has placed her weight behind hundreds of good causes, promoting civil rights and providing for the needy, sick and dying.

And then she goes away. Having become a mother at 39, and bearing her last child at 45, Sarandon would also properly dedicate her life to her children, keeping them rooted in normality by stepping out of the spotlight wherever possible. Her own personal fame was clearly not the main spur for her - she wanted far more, and got it.

She was born Susan Abigail Tomalin on the 4th of October, 1946, in Jackson Heights, New York City, an area of Queens near La Guardia Airport. She'd grow up, though, some 30 miles to the south-west, in Edison, New Jersey, the oldest of nine children born to Catholics Phillip Leslie Tomalin and his wife Lenora Marie Criscione, giving Susan a combustible genetic mix of Welsh and Italian. She would learn how much is possible from her father, who'd been a big band singer before becoming a TV producer and then an advertising executive.

Being Catholics, the Tomalins would favour religious education for their kids and Susan would attend an all-girl, all-white elementary school, run by nuns, before moving on to Edison High School where she'd be a cheerleader. She was a good pupil, though one nun famously noted that she had "an overabundance of original sin". After graduation, in 1964, Susan would move on to the Catholic University of America, situated in Washington DC. Here she'd live off-campus with her grandparents while studying an extraordinary mix of English, philosophy and military strategy. To support herself she'd work as a secretary for the drama department, as well as cleaning apartments. On the side, she did a bit of modelling, once appearing in a brochure for the soon-to-be infamous Watergate Hotel. She certainly had the body for it.